Environmental Factors that Affect Human Health: The environment has a major role to play in our physical health. The interaction between humans and the environment has been under continuous observation, and the risks related to the environment are seen to significantly impact our health. Humans expose themselves to harmful agents by directly or indirectly disrupting the life-sustaining ecosystems which affect our health.
How Does the Environment Affect Human Health?
Growing
population and rapid development in the economies have resulted in incessant
environmental degradation. Industrialization, spiraling agricultural activities,
and cumulative usage of energy are some of the leading forces of environmental
health issues. The main environmental hazards to human health in countries that
are in their developing stages are because of poverty, absence of clean water,
lack of public infrastructure, poor sanitization, and lack of health care
system and all problems caused by industrial pollution. Nevertheless, the
wealthier countries are not immune to health issues because of environmental problems – though their
problems may be of a different nature when compared to the developing worlds.
What are the Environmental Factors that Cause Health
Issues in Humans?
The
food we eat, the air we breathe, the buildings we construct, the water we
drink, the transport we use, and the neighborhood we live in – every aspect of
our lives are connected to the environment, which can lead to health problems
in humans because of our actions. 23% of global deaths have been recorded
because of environmental factors. Here
are some sources of environmental health
problems:
1. Polluted water is the
carrier of life-threatening diseases. Tons of agricultural waste, industrial
waste, sewage, and garbage is dumped in the water, which is the main cause of
water pollution. It is difficult to get fresh drinking water that is free of
any germs.
2. Overusing natural
resources is leading to land erosion, which will soon cause an energy crisis.
The chemicals emitted through these resources cause significant changes in the
climate.
3. Growing population
also leads to growth in transportation requirements. This doesn’t destroy
natural habitats but also increases air pollution that causes different types
of diseases.
4. Climatic changes are
causing the snow-caps to melt. The Arctic ice-caps are melting, and they are
causing floods, contaminating drinking water, releasing different types of
viruses and germs that were buried under the snow for centuries. The global
temperatures are rising, the summers have become intolerable and the storms are
always destroying towns and cities.
5. Occupational hazards
(biological hazards, chemical hazards, physical hazards, and psychosocial
hazards)
6. The built environment
(man-made structures, cities, parks, etc.) is causing deforestation. There are
hundreds of species of plants and animals that are already extinct or on the
verge of being extinct. Lesser tree means less oxygen – the emission of
greenhouse gas is increasing and causing various diseases.
7. Waste production
builds up the landfills that generate huge amounts of methane. This gas is one
of the main causes of global warming and has always caused explosion hazards.
Health Problems Caused by the Environmental Issues:
The
environmental hazards that we just spoke about can cause different types of
diseases. Here are some examples of
environmental health problems.
Polluted
water – Diarrhoea, infections of throat, eye, ear, and nose. Polluted water
also breeds mosquitoes that cause malaria, dengue, rickets, etc.
Polluted
air – lung cancer, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases
UV
Rays – skin cancer, cataract, deficiency of Vitamin D which causes various
diseases, melanoma, etc.
Smoke
– asthma, ear infections, respiratory infections, heart diseases, low birth
weight, etc.
Climate
Change – including giardiasis, heatstroke, infectious diseases,
cryptosporidiosis, and salmonellosis.
Conclusion:
People
who are already suffering from certain medical conditions are at high-risk to
be exposed to environmental health issues. Therefore we must take drastic steps
to make peace with our environment if we want to live a healthy life free from
health issues caused by the environment we live in.
“Stay
Healthy to achieve Happiness and Prosperity in Life”
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